She hesitated, staring at me.
Who are you working for?’
‘Perelli. Let’s have it.’
‘I’ll give you a little of it,’ she said at last. ‘I’ll give you the whole of it when I have the money. Lute, Barratt and Dedrick are running the biggest smuggling racket on the coast. They’re supplying millions of reefers all over the country and to Paris, London, and Berlin. Lute looks after Los Angeles and San Francisco. Barratt takes care of London and New York. Ded- rick supplies Paris and Berlin. How’s that for a sample?’
‘You’re sure about Dedrick?’
She gave me a sneering little smile.
‘I’m sure. I’ve heard them talk. They think I’m dumb, but I’m not. If they had treated me right I would have kept my mouth shut. I know where they keep the reefers. There’s not much I don’t know. You’ll get it all for five hundred bucks, and it’ll be cheap at the price.’
‘What do you know about Mary Jerome?’
She chewed her underlip, her eyes hard.
‘I know all about her. I know where she is too.’